Posts tagged used games

Ars Technica has a couple of great, in-depth pieces laying out in detail the facts of the matter surrounding the upcoming Supreme Court case concerning a Thai exchange student who imported and resold cheap foreign editions of English-language textbooks to finance his doctorate. Publishers contend he earned $1.2 million in revenues, and essentially set himself up as an unlicensed importer/distributor, damaging the publishers’ market for the books within the United States. The publisher plaintiff is John Wiley & Sons, which has also garnered attention for its recent lawsuits against unauthorized BitTorrent distributors of its books.
The article discusses the Costco vs. Omega case, which I covered...

The dichotomy between physical and electronic delivery of media doesn’t just strike the book world. As I’ve noted a few times in the past, computer games have also been moving to electronic delivery, most notably via Valve’s Steam system, but other companies such as GameStop have been trying to roll their own as well. Digital delivery of games can allow game publishers to do some interesting things. For instance, buying any Valve game box in the store includes a free Steam-based on-line version of it that players can download forever even if they lose the retail disks, Also,...

The matter of first sale and imports I mentioned yesterday is not the only recent Ninth Circuit decision with unpleasant first-sale implications. Ars Technica reported yesterday that the Ninth Circuit ruled in a long-standing case concerning End-User Licensing Agreements on computer software—and from a consumer rights standpoint (and that includes e-book consumers), the ruling was not a good one. The case is Vernor vs. Autodesk, and until yesterday a lower court ruling had been cited as a potential precedent in favor of users being able to resell computer software they had purchased. The case involved a man, Timothy...

If you’re interested in a used iPhone or iPod Touch for e-reading, you’ll soon have another option to buy it. Target is rolling out a trade-in program for mobile electronics such as iPhones, iPod Touchs, or other cell phones—or used video games. (As Engadget notes, its timing is remarkable considering the current controversy over used game sales.) In return, customers get Target gift cards that range from "a few dollars up to more than $200 per item depending on the product and its condition." Target already has an online service through its website where customers can trade in...